Shakhtar vs Fluminense: players’ views

Pitmen reflect on the first Florida Cup match.

Facundo Ferreyra, Shakhtar forward:

- The match is very important for us in training terms. Despite the fact that today's game is a friendly, through this kind of encounters we regain form. It’s great that no one got injured. I cannot but mention a large number of our fans in the stadium – that's very nice! To be honest, I'm surprised and pleased at the same time that there are so many Shakhtar fans in the United States. As for the scored goal, it is important to me rather in psychological terms – the goal gave me confidence. My goal is claiming a permanent place in the starting XI and becoming one of the key forwards in the future.

Anton Kanibolotskyi, Shakhtar goalkeeper:

- Fluminense are a good team. Perhaps today the opponents felt a little bit better physically than we did – as they started training earlier. So in terms of fitness it was easier for them, while we felt somewhat tired after workloads. But that’s a normal thing at the training camp. In general, Fluminense showed combinational football - the match was interesting. It might seem to the onlookers that there were many dangerous situations, but that’s not so actually. It’s a pity that I lacked some luck to keep a clean sheet. Of course, I am far from being in the optimal form yet – it’s been just our first week of training! But we need to get involved in the working rhythm as quickly as possible. We have many games ahead, so I am sure that we will have enough time to get back into the necessary form.

Ivan Ordets, Shakhtar defender:

- There was a great atmosphere at the stadium today! There were so many of our fans. We did a lot of running work and, perhaps, looked a bit tired, but that’s only our first match. And I think we played it well enough. All the guys are in good shape. Hopefully, in the next match we will look even better. As for the match itself, we have already played against Brazilian teams. It happened last year at the training camp in Brazil. So we knew that Fluminense are technically good team who will show attacking football. I liked this team: it has excellent performers – Ronaldinho alone is worth a lot!

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